Parental Doctor
by StormWolf10
Summary: Sequel to Family Doctor. With their family growing, the Doctor and Rose suddenly find themselves having problems in all aspects of their life, and for once, it's not something that can be fixed with a sonic screwdriver...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: New new story! Sequel to Family Doctor and fourth in the 'The Domestic Approach' series. Big thanks to everyone who helped with title ideas, particularly RunYouCleverBoyAndRememberMe and ImagineNomieX! :)**

Rose sighed tiredly, watching with a small smile as Amelia toddled around the room, clutching an old mobile in her hand as she chattered away to the non-existent person on the other end of the line in baby-talk. One of Rose's hands strayed over her swollen belly as she felt the baby kick. At seven months gone, her belly was bigger than it had been when she'd been pregnant with Amelia, but apparently that was normal. What wasn't normal was the slightly worrying heart murmur they'd picked up on the first foetal scan. The sonographer had been quick to reassure the Doctor and Rose that it was probably nothing, but they'd monitor both Rose and the baby for the duration of the pregnancy just to be on the safe side. The Doctor had spent hours pacing after that, muttering about how it couldn't be the combination of human and Time Lord genes, as they already had a perfectly healthy baby, and it couldn't be that the baby had two hearts as Time Lords and Ladies didn't have two hearts until their first regeneration. Rose was suddenly jolted from her thoughts by Amelia trying to scramble up onto the sofa.

"Hello, baby!" Rose told her daughter, helping the girl sit beside her "What've you got there?"

Amelia gurgled and thrust the phone at Rose, a toothy smile spreading across her chubby cheeks. Rose took the phone from her daughter, lifting it to her ear as Amelia clapped and grinned.

"I think they've hung up!" Rose announced, mock-shocked with wide-eyed.

Amelia giggled and reached for the phone again. Rose handed the phone back to the seventeen month old, watching as her daughter punched at the keypad. The show on TV was muttering away in the background, a children's show that Amelia had lost interest in some time ago. Just then, Rose heard the front door open, and moments later, the Doctor appeared in the doorway.

"Hey, love," the Doctor told her, ducking down to kiss Rose's forehead as Amelia lifted her arms up "how's Amelia and the baby been?"

"Both energetic," Rose replied with a smile, watching as the Doctor lifted Amelia into his arms and bounced her, eliciting giggles from the toddler "barely gave me a minute's peace."

The Doctor hummed in agreement, still bouncing Amelia and smiling at her.

"It'll get worse when that little one arrives," the Doctor pointed out, nodding towards Rose's baby bump with a soft smile.

"Wouldn't have it any other way, though." Rose grinned as the Doctor sat beside her on the sofa, Amelia now on his lap.

Soon, however, the toddler started squirming, and the Doctor let the girl slide to the ground, watching her toddle over to the toys scattered across the floor.

"Do you think the baby's going to be ok?" Rose asked suddenly, voice quiet as she watched Amelia playing with some of her toys.

The Doctor sighed and tugged his wife a little closer.

"I'm sure the baby will be fine, Rose." The Doctor assured her gently, kissing her on the forehead again "It's probably nothing to worry about."

"But what if it is?" Rose asked, shifting to look up at him.

"Then we'll do whatever we have to to help our little boy or girl." The Doctor responded calmly.

**~StormWolf10~**

Later that night, once Amelia had been put to bed, the Doctor and Rose were back downstairs on their own.

"We still need to finish off the nursery you know." Rose reminded the Doctor suddenly, stifling a yawn.

"I know. I've booked the weekend off to finish it. Although we have still got two months before the baby joins us." The Doctor pointed out.

"Well yeah, but I'm not leaving it to the last minute! I'd much rather have it done soon." Rose sighed.

"I'll get it done, don't worry about it." The Doctor responded, chuckling slightly.

There was a pause as Rose's eyes fluttered shut and the Doctor glanced at the clock.

"Come on," he said suddenly "let's get off to bed. You're tired and I've got work tomorrow. Although I doubt anything will happen, it's been rather quiet in the Science Department recently."

Rose snorted at that.

"With you around I doubt it's ever quiet!" she smirked as the Doctor helped her to her feet.

"Oi!" the Doctor frowned, although a smile was tugging at his lips "I'll have you know I can be very quiet!"

"Oh, I'd love to see that!" Rose snorted.

The Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Come on you, off to bed," he told her with a smile, nudging Rose towards the doorway.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Another chapter, because the other was a bit short… Read and review!**

_Previously:_

"_Come on," he said suddenly "let's get off to bed. You're tired and I've got work tomorrow. Although I doubt anything will happen, it's been rather quiet in the Science Department recently."_

_Rose snorted at that._

"_With you around I doubt it's ever quiet!" she smirked as the Doctor helped her to her feet._

"_Oi!" the Doctor frowned, although a smile was tugging at his lips "I'll have you know I can be very quiet!"_

"_Oh, I'd love to see that!" Rose snorted._

_The Doctor rolled his eyes._

"_Come on you, off to bed," he told her with a smile, nudging Rose towards the doorway._

**~StormWolf10~**

"You wanted to see me, Pete?" the Doctor asked, poking his head around his father-in-law's office door.

"Ah, yes, please come in, Doctor." Pete announced, ushering the man inside.

As the Doctor stepped into the room, he frowned when he saw several other people from the Science Department, Research Department, Archive Department and even lower down members of the Medical Department stood awkwardly in the office.

"I… I could come back later if that would help?" the Doctor suggested, confused.

"No, no, you need to be here for this, Doctor." Pete replied, cheeks flushing slightly as he spoke.

Nodding, but still confused, the Doctor crossed to the small cluster of men and women in the middle of the office.

"As I'm sure you're all aware," Pete began nervously "there is a global downturn at the moment. Stocks and shares are down right across the world, and inflation is hitting everyone."

There were nods and murmurs from everyone in the room at that.

"Now, because of this, the government has decided to cut our funding," Pete continued, taking a deep breath "and we've been forced to let some of the… _less vital_ people go."

An uncomfortable silence settled over the room then as it sank in. The Doctor blinked, watching his father-in-law carefully. Was this… Was he being made redundant? What were they going to do for money? The new baby was due in a matter of weeks, and it was already a bit of a squeeze paying the bills on his wages… The Doctor forced himself to listen as Pete continued speaking.

"Now, I understand this is a terrible inconvenience for you, and that's why I called you all in today. If you decide to take voluntary redundancy, you'll receive a payout of £8500 each. I'm sorry we couldn't do more, but…"

"What's going to happen to our departments?" a sandy-haired man- Rory Williams, if the Doctor remembered correctly- piped up with a frown "I mean, you're cutting Science, Archive, Research and many of the nurses from Medical- those aren't 'less vital'!"

"We're reorganising the Departments," Pete admitted "merging Archive and Research together, as well as Science and Tech. They'll be managed by the Field Team members associated with those Departments. As for Medical, only the higher nurses and the Doctors will be staying on."

**~StormWolf10~**

There was nearly half an hour of arguing before the majority of the group decided to take voluntary redundancy, Rory and the Doctor being among them. After that, everyone headed off to clean off their desks and empty their lockers, but the Doctor was stopped by Pete.

"I'm really sorry about this, Doctor," Pete told his son-in-law "but we had no choice."

The Doctor nodded.

"Yeah, no, I understand." The Doctor responded "I've just got to work out how to break it to Rose."

Pete sighed, and ducked his head for a few moments before meeting the Doctor's eyes again.

"I've gotta somehow tell Jackie!" he responded, with a small smile "But I'm trying to get you another job. At Vitex, or somewhere like that. And we'll be more than happy to lend you money for a while."

The Doctor, however, shook his head.

"I wouldn't fit in at Vitex, not my sort of place." The Doctor announced calmly "But I don't know where else to go. Just... Just answer me this, though, Pete. If I hadn't moved from the Field Department to Science, would I still have a job?"

Pete glanced down at the floor, and the two men were silent for several moments before Pete finally nodded. The Doctor nodded slowly.

"That's what I thought."

And then he was walking out the office, leaving Pete behind.

**~StormWolf10~**

The Doctor sat in his car, staring straight ahead. He'd parked five minutes ago, but still hadn't gone inside the house. The reason for that was simple; he had no idea how to tell Rose he no longer had a job and they no longer had an income. It was hard to believe that less than twenty-four hours ago, he and Rose had been happy, discussing finishing off the nursery for the latest addition to their family. But now, it was becoming clear that they might not even be able to afford to feed that new addition, and the thought terrified the Doctor. If he'd had his TARDIS, he could just pilfer food from the galley, or fly somewhere and pull in a few favours to get free food. But he didn't have the TARDIS, hadn't had the TARDIS in over two years. That was all gone. The Doctor saw the curtain twitch, and realised that Rose knew he was home. With a sigh, he climbed out of the car, locking it before heading for the front door.

"Daddy!"

Amelia launched herself at the Doctor's legs, clinging to him and giggling. With a smile, the Doctor reached down and lifted the toddler into his arms. Despite talking at just a few months old- no doubt thanks to her Time Lady physiology- Amelia didn't differ that much from other toddlers her age; she was easily distracted, and still fell over sometimes when she walked.

"Hello, Amelia! Have you been good for Mummy?"

Amelia nodded, and gurgled something in baby-talk; she still did that sometimes despite knowing several words now.

"She's been fine." Rose announced from the sitting room doorway, one hand splayed across her belly "You're home early. It's only 3."

The Doctor sniffed, and one hand reached up to ruffle his hair.

"Well, about that…" the Doctor began awkwardly "I think we should perhaps put Amelia down with her toys and then sit down and have a chat."

Rose, looking rather worried, nodded, and the pair of them made their way back into the sitting room. As the Doctor set Amelia on the floor in amongst a pile of building blocks, Rose lowered herself awkwardly onto the sofa, shifting a few times before she was comfortable.

"So did Dad give you the rest of the afternoon off, or something?" Rose asked, watching as the Doctor sat down on the opposite sofa.

"Sort of," the Doctor replied, nose wrinkled "there was a, uh, situation. At work. Because of the… Global downturn."

"Right," Rose replied slowly, brow furrowed as she attempted to make heads or tails of what her husband was skirting around.

"And, well, they had to let some people go." The Doctor completed, rubbing the back of his neck.

Rose blinked.

"You… You've been sacked?" she asked, panic beginning to rise in her chest.

"Voluntary redundancy. £8500 payout." The Doctor replied, hoping his smile would soften the blow of the news.

It didn't.

"You've been made redundant." Rose clarified slowly "We have a baby due in under two months and you've been made redundant."

"Uh… yeah?" the Doctor responded meekly "Your Dad offered to find me a job at Vitex or somewhere, but I don't think I'll fit in."

"But it's money, Doctor." Rose pointed out, both hands on her belly "We _need_ money!"

"I know, and I'll sort it. I promise." The Doctor insisted quickly.

Rose, however, looked sceptical.


End file.
